The original context was a slogan about myths of Zeus, but there are myths about real people. Joan of Arc, for example. So this is not true by definition, but an empirical fact.
I had no particular definition in mind, any more than I do of “Zeus” or any of the other words I have just used, but if you want one, this from Google seems to describe what we are all talking about here:
a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events
Great heroes with historical existence accrete myths of supernatural events around them, while natural forces get explained by supernatural beings.
Heracles might have been a better example than Zeus. I don’t know if ancient Greek scholarship has anything to say on the matter, but it seems quite possible that the myths of Heracles could originate from a historical figure. Likewise Romulus, Jason, and all the other mortals of Graeco-Roman mythology. These have some reasonable chance of existing. Zeus does not. But by that very fact, the claim that “myths about Heracles are evidence for Heracles’ existence” is not as surprising as the one about Zeus, and so does not function as a shibboleth for members of the Cult of Bayes to identify one another.
Heracles might have been a better example than Zeus. I don’t know if ancient Greek scholarship has anything to say on the matter, but it seems quite possible that the myths of Heracles could originate from a historical figure. Likewise Romulus, Jason, and all the other mortals of Graeco-Roman mythology. These have some reasonable chance of existing. Zeus does not.
Notice that in the above argument you’re implicitly conditioning on gods not existing. We’re trying to determine how the existence of myths about Zeus affects our estimate that Zeus exists. You’re basically saying “I assign probability 0 to Zeus existing, so the myths don’t alter it”.
The original context was a slogan about myths of Zeus, but there are myths about real people. Joan of Arc, for example. So this is not true by definition, but an empirical fact.
I had no particular definition in mind, any more than I do of “Zeus” or any of the other words I have just used, but if you want one, this from Google seems to describe what we are all talking about here:
Great heroes with historical existence accrete myths of supernatural events around them, while natural forces get explained by supernatural beings.
Heracles might have been a better example than Zeus. I don’t know if ancient Greek scholarship has anything to say on the matter, but it seems quite possible that the myths of Heracles could originate from a historical figure. Likewise Romulus, Jason, and all the other mortals of Graeco-Roman mythology. These have some reasonable chance of existing. Zeus does not. But by that very fact, the claim that “myths about Heracles are evidence for Heracles’ existence” is not as surprising as the one about Zeus, and so does not function as a shibboleth for members of the Cult of Bayes to identify one another.
Notice that in the above argument you’re implicitly conditioning on gods not existing. We’re trying to determine how the existence of myths about Zeus affects our estimate that Zeus exists. You’re basically saying “I assign probability 0 to Zeus existing, so the myths don’t alter it”.